A Different Start
by luccigal492
Summary: What would happen if Petunia was to give birth to a magical child, one that wasn't Vernon's.? Watch as Harry embraces his new found role as the protecter and realizes that he will go to every extreme to keep those that he loves safe. Will span 7 years.


First off I own nothing of JK Rowlings wonderful magical world otherwise I wouldn't be writing of fan fiction. She is a true genius and I'm just messing around in her world for my own enjoyment.

This story has been floating around in my head for a while. I had been trying to think up a way that would cause Aunt Petunia to treat Harry differently. I just couldn't understand how someone could treat their own flesh and blood that way so I decided that she needed a wake-up call, something to jolt her out of her self-absorbed, narrow-minded lifestyle. And then on that same train of thought I wondered what Harry would turn out like if he had found love in his family.

The first chapter is going to be heavily focused on Petunia because at the time Harry is only 3 ½ so anything from his point of view is not going to be overly exciting.

I hope to go all the way through Harry's schooling and I've got plans for it all. This story will follow up to the end of Harry's first year at Hogwarts.

Chapter 1 – A Stranger's Baby

She sat huddled on the floor at the foot of the toilet. For the last two weeks she had been deluding herself, chalking her constant nausea up to food poisoning or something of the sort. But all the signs were there: morning sickness, a slight bulge in her stomach, odd cravings of food, even her breasts seemed to be fuller (much to Vernon's pleasure). She couldn't believe that she had been so careless as to not use protection. What would the neighbors say? What would Vernon think if the child looked nothing like him?

**Flashback**

She was sitting in a bar. The _wizards,_ she shuddered at the thought, called it the Leaky Cauldron. But it was the only place she could come where no one would judge her for wanting to remember her sister. Here no one knew who she was. No one cared. One night a year she allowed herself to grieve for the sister she had lost long before she died. Between both her own pride and Lily's temper they never had the chance to patch up their friendship. Their relationship had been strained through Lily's schooling in the wizarding world but it was their weddings that finally tore them apart.

Lily had been repulsed by Vernon. The first time she had met him Vernon had treated Petunia like a possession, but Petunia had been in love and refused to listen to her well meaning sister. Three months later Petunia was married with a baby on the way, and she had already begun to regret her hasty decisions. On the other hand, Lily had met the man of her dreams, someone who treated her like a queen. Petunia had had to beg Vernon for weeks to accompany her to Lily's wedding. He had finally relented but before the service Lily's fiancé and best man decided to play a practical joke on a few of their guests. Unfortunately Vernon was targeted. He was enraged to have had any of the _freakishness_ used on him and demanded that they return home immediately. So she had missed her only sister's wedding, and that had been the breaking point for them. Within months Lily and her husband were forced into hiding, and none of Petunia's letters ever made it through to her sister. Lily had died thinking her sister hated her.

Petunia threw back another shot of something that made her feel like she could breathe fire. IT burned but it felt good, making her feel something. Her life was monotonous and she was trapped. Trapped with an abusive husband that she was afraid to leave. Then trapped with a child that her husband ruined through his attempts to mold him into a Vernon Jr. And finally trapped with her sister's only child that Vernon hated mercilessly that they were forced to keep because of man that had only left a letter. This was her night to be free of the restraints that each day in the life of Petunia Dursley brought. Tonight she could be whoever she wanted to be.

She was at least on her 4th shot when she noticed the dark man that had just ordered a drink a few seats down from here. She couldn't tell if he was handsome but he carried a presence around him that made him captivating in the very least. She heard him call to the bartender for two double shots. And as quickly as he was served ,he downed them. He was a man like her; trying to chase away the demons of the past.

Uncharacteristically she called out to him, "Who did you lose?"

He turned towards her letting the full force of his soul searching gaze hitting her, "The only person I ever loved." And he turned away to have another shot and get lost in the memories.

But Petunia was drawn to the stranger in a way she could not explain. "I feel the same way sometimes. I lost the only person that ever made me feel like I was worth something, that my life had meaning. And then I chased her away. And now she's dead. Dead for a little more than 2 years now."

She would never know but at that moment her words echoed the strangers thoughts .

She turned away and was about to go hail a cab to go home, back to her reality, when she heard his voice almost hesitant from the other side of the bar, "What were you drinking?"

And with those four words she would never have been able to comprehend how much her life would begin to change.

"Aunt Tunia," called a timid voice at the door dragging her out of her internal misery. The boy in the doorway was small for his age, seeming even smaller in Dudley's castoffs that were more than a few sizes too large for him. Petunia found herself looking up to him for the first time as the tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Those bright green eyes, so innocent and full of compassion. So much like his mother's, her Lily's. And she found she couldn't hold back her tears anymore, like a waterfall they fell.

And suddenly he was at her side, "Don't cwy Aunt Tunia. Hawy don't want you be sad." Petunia only cried harder in response. How could this child that she had tried to ignore still be so full of compassion? While Harry had never received physical abuse at Vernon's hands, Petunia knew that she had turned a blind eye to the psychological abuse the boy was given by her husband. She had feigned ignorance to keep peace in her unhappy household. Yet the boy still cared enough about her to want her happiness. He reminded her so much of her sister.

"Don't cwy. Pwease." Harry pleaded with tear filled eyes as giving her a tissue that had appeared out of nowhere.

But Petunia gave no reaction to the magic and just attempted a watery smile for him saying, "Thank you, Harry." And for the first time she allowed herself to pull Lily's son into an embrace. Things were going to change. Petunia just held him offering him as much comfort as she was receiving herself.

But there were soon wrenched from their comfort by the screeching of the other child in the household. "Mommy. I want more ice cream. And I want chocolate sauce and whip cream and a cherry. Mommy I want!"

Dudley Dursley at 4 years old could be described as round being nearly as wide as he was tall. He was the spitting image of his father with his mother's blue eyes. Like his father he believed he deserved whatever he could possibly wanted, and because of his encouragement from his father he was not afraid to voice his desires….loudly.

With a strengthened resolve Aunt Petunia rose from the ground and dabbed her eyes calling down the stairs to her son. "Just a minute my precious Diddyums."

"I don't want minute. I want NOW!" His tantrum was about to begin and Petunia knew it as she raced downstairs. But at the top of the stairs she stopped for a second looking back at the wide eyed boy still standing in the bathroom and called out softly to him, "Harry, you can go lay down in my room if you would like. I will be back up in a few minutes. " And with that she ran down to the kitchen.

But things were difficult to change in the Dursley household. Vernon wanted nothing to do with giving the _freak _anything more than the basic necessities, the prospect of having another child, obviously to be a son to carry on the Dursley name, did make him a little more open to some change. He was idiotic enough not to realize that there was no possibility that child could be his. But Petunia knew that once he saw the child he would be relieved of his false assumptions.

In the coming months, Petunia came to terms with the unplanned pregnancy. It had opened her heart to her nephew and made her examine the life she was living. She had missed her sister terribly and knew she had only pushed her away because she had been jealous and lonely. Yes magic had frightened her, and she had blamed magic with the death of her parents and sister. But she came to realize that magic like her sister had always said was just a tool.

There were many reasons she could give for her change of heart , but in reality she knew that the child she was carrying was almost positively going to be magical. And Petunia decided that she would not condemn her child because of her abilities. So if that meant she had to change her most basic beliefs, then so be it.

Petunia tried to change her households lifestyle, yet Vernon only responded with scorn for her attempts to make changes.

**Flashback**

That night she had cooked a delicious but balanced meal. All afternoon she had been thinking of things that needed to change her family and the most blatant fault was diet. Her son was already overweight and was on his way to being chronically obese. Her husband was no different. In her mind she had cooked a dinner that had perfect portions and nutritious value.

Vernon came home from work and immediately sat down at the head of the table waiting to be served. He noticed something out of the ordinary at the table and called to his wife, "Petunia , dearest, are we expecting company for dinner?"

Petunia, confused by his question, came into the dining room placing food on the table as she went. "No, I hadn't invited anyone. Why do you ask?"

"Then why did you set the table for four? There's only three people here to eat."

Exasperated, "Vernon, I know you aren't fond of Harry but he is a person. He needs to eat too."

Vernon spluttered, "Then let him eat a sandwich or leftovers, but he is not eating with me at the table. I will not allow that vermin to contaminate my food. And why are you all of a sudden calling him Harry? Are you not feeling well?"

Petunia quietly said that she hadn't been feeling that well all day. She hadn't realized how much Vernon abhorred her nephew. Changing things would have to be taken much slower than she had anticipated. And most importantly she now knew that all her changes must be done without Vernon's knowledge or he must think that he came up with the idea.

**End Flashback**

One of the changes Petunia was adamant about was moving Harry out of the cupboard beneath the stairs. She had never felt comfortable with the thought of leaving him down there even. It was just unseemly. And with a plan of attack Petunia decided she would confront Vernon directly.

Petunia planned it perfectly. She sat him down to talk after a dinner complete with a roast and some brandy. "So Vernon, dear," she started, "I've been thinking."

"Yes, yes, " he said distractedly.

"Well I really need my cupboard back for my cleaning supplies. It's such a hassle having to haul them up and down the stairs every day."

"Where would we put the boy then?" Vernon asked. "The closet upstairs barely fits the brooms."

"Yes, you are right." Petunia pretended like she had to think hard about where to put him. "Hmmm . That is the dilemma. "

"Then we will just have to leave him where he is then," Vernon stated with a touch of finality.

But Petunia was ready for that, "But Vernon, I'm always so worried about what the neighbors would say if they ever found out … well about his sleeping arrangements. "

"No one has found out yet." Vernon said on the defensive.

"Can't you just imagine one of my friends coming over and accidentally opening the cupboard thinking it was a bathroom only to find a cot and all of his little things in there. I can't even begin to imagine the embarrassment."

"Well.. . hmmm… that does raise good points but where would we put him?" Vernon was weakening just as she had planned.

"We could always use Dudley's second bedroom. I mean it will be being turned into a nursery soon enough. And this way Dudley won't resent his sibling for the loss of the room. "

"Yes… Yes.." Vernon agreed while thinking it over in his head. "But what about when the baby comes? What will we do with the _freak _then?"

"Oh well we will worry about that then. The baby won't need the whole room for awhile at least." At that she could see that that battle was one, but it would be the first of many.

Harry was confused. He had always known that Uncle Vernon didn't like him and that Dudley got sweets if he was mean to him. Even Aunt Petunia used to ignore him. But then one day she decided that she liked him. He could still clearly remember the first time she had ever hugged him like she hugged Dudley every day. His child mind was overjoyed at the thought that his Aunt did love him. He had even seen her setting a place for him at dinner that night.

But then Uncle Vernon had come home. And he was angry that Aunt Petunia was going to let him sit at the table with them. He had grumbled all night about Harry and the food being 'too healthy' and Aunt Petunia had meekly agreed with him. So Harry had sat in the kitchen waiting until dinner was over like he always did. But when Aunt Petunia came back into the kitchen she had fixed him a big glass of milk and a plate full of food. She even placed a kiss on his forehead just like she would do for Dudley before she turned back to her dishes in the sink. That night Aunt Petunia fixed up his bed in the cupboard with extra blankets and pillows, and after she thought he had fallen asleep she whispered softly, "I'll get you out of here soon Harry." She thought he hadn't heard, but he had.

Then not two weeks later he was up in Dudley's old playroom in a real bed.

Sometimes Aunt Petunia wouldn't be so nice though, but it was only when Uncle Vernon was around. To Harry it almost seemed like she was doing it to keep Uncle Vernon from bothering him though. But Harry was observant and he learned to equate Uncle Vernon's presence with Aunt Petunia's meanness. If Uncle Vernon was around he tried to stay out of the way. No matter what his Aunt did there would always be a difference. But at least he knew she loved him, now.

Four months later, Petunia was in the delivery room ready to give birth to the child she knew would drastically change her life. But as she thought about it, her life had already changed a great deal because of her choices. Dudley had lost some weight because of the diet changes she was slowly imposing on her family. She couldn't do much in respects to how spoiled he had already become, but she was doing little things to force him to respect her. The changes were not drastic where Dudley was concerned but at least there was some sort of change.

Harry on the other hand had truly blossomed with a little encouragement. With the proper food he began to fill out a little and didn't look nearly as unhealthy as he had. Plus in her free time she had been teaching the boys the basics of reading. Harry being a very bright child picked up the skill quickly, but his instinct was to hide his true potential. It had taken Petunia weeks to get him to perform to his best capabilities. Dudley needed the most attention out of the two, but learning to read was the first activity that the two boys ever did together that didn't revolve around bullying.

A contraction hit her, jolting her out of her reminiscing. She practiced breathing but the contractions beginning to come more frequently. She tried thinking about her boys to keep her mind off the pain. Dudley had been sent off to his Aunt Marge, Vernon's sister, while Harry was staying with their neighbor Ms. Figg for a few days while she was in the hospital. But soon the pain became unbearable.

The doctor's were telling her to push. And push she did. She had forgotten just how painful the birthing process really was. She vaguely heard them saying she'd done a good job as they handed her baby girl to her. She could vaguely remember wondering where Vernon was. But all those thoughts left her as she held her daughter. And then she opened her eyes. Her eyes were as black as obsidian, but if you looked closely you could see little flecks of gold.

Her name would be Kiera Lily: Lily for her sister and Kiera after the intoxicating darkness that surrounded her father.


End file.
